Times were tight at the top of timesheets when another weekend of world class class actions kicked off in Jerez. Pol Espargaro finished the 14th day with Marc Marquez, who was less than 0.2 seconds behind in 16th place.
The sky was clear all day as the MotoGP World Championship continued the 2021 season with the fourth round in Jerez. At the start of the Gran Bullio Red Bull de España, the majority of the field was divided into less than a second in both sessions.
Pol Espargaro wasted no time in the morning and was immediately on the right track when learning the 4.4 kilometer route as a Honda rider. An off-track foray for Espargaro in the middle of Free Practice 1 did little to detract from his overall pace in the session. In a time of 1’38.433, Espargaro finished the morning in eighth place. With another three tenths less time in Free Practice 2, the # 44 finished the day 14th in the overall standings and within a second of the fastest time. As on previous weekends, his main goal for Saturday is a Q2 point to start further up the grid.
Marc Marquez’s second race weekend of the season started steadily as the eight-time world champion worked to optimize his Honda RC213V for the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto. Marquez finished the first session of the day in third place and spent the second session on Friday continuing to work on setting up his bike while continuously assessing his physical condition. Marquez finished the opening day as the 16th fastest rider overall and was the only one who didn’t improve his time in FP2.
Saturday morning is the last chance for drivers to improve and get into the combined top ten for a guaranteed spot in the second quarter. Practice 3 is scheduled to begin at 9:55 am local time and both sides of the Repsol Honda team garage are determined to prove their potential in Jerez.